Los Angeles Lakers
This might be beating a dead bush but there's no question that the Los Angeles Lakers are facing a significant amount of pressure heading into the push toward the playoffs. For one, this is a team that elected to not make a move at the NBA Trade Deadline, at least in part, because they believed that the team had yet to play its best basketball of the season. If they were to completely fall apart over the last six weeks of the regular season, leading up to the playoffs, it would be a bad look for the front office.
And that's not a place the front office wants to be as it attempts to re-sign LeBron James to an extension during the offseason. I don't think it's realistic for the Lakers to win a championship this season with their current roster. However, if they were to not make the postseason, perhaps losing in the Play-In Tournament, or not being competitive in a seven-game series, this will be remembered as another lost season for LeBron in Los Angeles.
The Lakers are in a tough spot but this is kind of what they outlined for themselves when they decided to not make any big moves dating back to last offseason, leading all the way to inactivity at the NBA Trade Deadline.